Since its inception, anthropology's authority has been based on the assumption that it is a unified discipline emanating from the West.
Gustavo Lins Ribeiro is Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Brasilia, Brazil, and Researcher of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil. Arturo Escobar is Kenan Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Director, Institute of Latin American Studies, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, USA; he is also Research Associate at the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History, ICANH, in Bogota
